One Night
by Sardonic Irony
Summary: They were together again. Just like they had been for the past three years. They met, they loved, and they lied. Stranded on opposing sides in a war that would consume the country. Rated for safety.


Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin. But I will ask the owners if they'll hand it over… Somehow I don't think they'll agree…

Title: One Night

Chapter:

Word Count For Chapter: 2,627

Author: Crisiscase

Summary: They were together again. Just like they had been for the past three years. They met, they loved, and they lied. Stranded on opposing sides in a war that would consume the country, but still they loved.

BETA: Mnemosyne77, the embodiment of all that is good in this life, I overwork her, and I mean that seriously. So, to you, Mnem, thanks a lot for all your help and support.

A/N: Okay, simple one-shot, needs a bit of work, but still… This is basically an exploration of an idea that would not leave me alone, something better and more substantial is on its way _very _soon, I promise.

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They were together again. Just as they had been every night for the past three years. Space was no obstacle when you had magic. They were both capable of traversing leagues upon leagues of land with magic. They were that powerful.

Merlin and Morgana, friends, lovers, enemies.

It was love that bound them together, love that tore them apart, love that made them, love that destroyed them. It was what brought them together every night - sheets piled around them - sweaty bodies intertwined, what caused them to forget their allegiances, their opposing sides for a time.

They had tried to fight it, once. They had tried, had tried so hard; had focused on the hate, the bitterness, the lies and secrets between them, the hurt they had caused each other. But through it all there was the love; the all-consuming and inescapable _love._

It had begun three years ago. Mordred had been attacking a small village in the eastern areas of Camelot's territories.

If it had been Uther as king, he probably would have ignored it, sequestered what people he could within Camelot and used the stronghold as his immovable defence. But it was not Uther who sat upon the throne, it was Arthur. Arthur, the Once and Future King. Arthur the _noble. _Of course he had to ride out and attempt to defend the village, Him and his knights. With them, rode Merlin: he who had never been defeated by magic, he who was most feared by Morgana, Mordred, Morgause and their allies.

Arthur had led his knights into the battle and among them was Merlin; an unstoppable hurricane of power, wreaking impossible arcane destruction around him. The troops Morgana and her allies sent against him fell before him, and Arthur was systematically eliminating man after man. On either side of the king there were two men, an unnatural wind blowing through their flowing red robes. They were Arthur's guards; apprentices of Merlin and powerful sorcerers in their own right. It was these four and the two lead knights, Lancelot and Gwaine who were causing Morgana and their allies so much trouble, they needed to be stopped. Between the three of them they decided that Morgause and Mordred were needed to face Merlin's apprentices as well as Arthur who was protected against magic by previous spells cast by Merlin himself. They and the knights were the bigger threat so it would take both Morgause and Mordred to fight them. This meant Morgana would face Merlin alone. It would make no difference if Morgause or even Mordred were there anyway, if Morgana couldn't stop Merlin, no-one could.

They had faced each other in a small field dotted by trees, which stood to the left of the battle.

_She cast her eyes upwards, regarding the grey clouds above. She slowly raised her arms, and her eyes glowed a molten gold, a manifestation of her power. Ancient words, words of power, rolled off her tongue, a chant of control. _

_Seeing her golden eyes Merlin also raised his hands, but unlike her motion he raised them so they were held before him. _

_As Morgana finished her chant - the words of death, of destruction falling into an abyss of silence a lightning bolt dropped from the clouds, a blast of roiling energy, a deadly, destructive entity. _

_The lightning was red in colour and it raced downwards rapidly. The coloured glow of the lightning lit half of Morgana's face while casting the other half into shadow. _

_When it reached the air just above Morgana's head it suddenly redirected towards Merlin._

_The young warlock knew that the attack was powerful so he quickly formed a shield that drained all the force from the bolt. It left the energy from it though and Merlin twisted it into flames and sent them rushing towards Morgana. The shield spell was a powerful spell but intensely demanding; he couldn't cast it consecutively for a prolonged period of time. _

_The flames tore towards Morgana, searing, racing, death. Quickly she summoned her power and twisted them into a dragon which reared its head at Merlin. _

_He thought quickly and sent water rushing towards the dragon. The water surged towards the dragon which had charged towards Merlin. The water and dragon collided in an explosion of hissing steam but the water managed to smother the dragon. Merlin then quickly forced the water into a twisting tunnel which raced towards Morgana._

_Morgana simply evaporated it with more flames._

_The two powerful magic users regarded each other silently for a minute, each lost in their own private and jumbled thoughts. _

_Merlin and Morgana knew there was still something between them, love which was still held within their hearts, but it was buried so deep. Buried so far beneath all the anger, all the lies, and all the pain. And now they were on opposing sides in a war that would consume a country. The fight was causing emotional pain, they had lied and cheated and backstabbed each other so many times… It was so painful, they had to finish this. _

_Suddenly Merlin sensed a build up of magical energy that sent him back to his senses. He focused his magical power and sent out a powerful beam of raw magical energy. Morgana had done exactly the same and the two beams of energy clashed. _

_There was a huge explosion and the two energy beams vanished. _

_Morgana gasped as she sensed magic. Looking up she saw lightning forking out of the sky, deep blue and intensely powerful. She had no hope of casting a shield that was powerful enough to withstand such a strike in the time she had. Desperately Morgana raised her arms, words of magic rolling off her tongue at a frantic pace. Immediately the lightning twisted into a great snake, which lunged towards Merlin, its newly acquired fangs gleaming and dripping with poison. _

_Merlin swore as he saw this and pushed his two arms out. The roots of two trees which had stood to the left and right of Merlin and Morgana shot out from the ground, wrapping themselves around the gargantuan creature and binding it in place. _

_Merlin then raised his palm, an incandescent white energy glowing in the middle of his palm. Then his eyes burned liquid gold._

_The creature and the roots that held it were destroyed in an explosion of noise and heat._

_Merlin looked up at the woman who he knew he loved but also hated. He now knew that they were evenly matched in creativity and knowledge of magic and Morgana was quickly coming to the same conclusion. _

_It would come down to a test of magical power to see who could outlast the other or get a lucky or skilful strike in._

_Merlin lashed out with another beam of energy. Morgana did the same. Slowly they got closer and closer, attempting to catch each other off guard by the ever smaller differences between them._

_When they were so close Merlin could count the three thin hairs that lay across Morgana's perfect, sweat-streaked white brow the strikes were near impossible to dodge._

_The two magic wielders were now close enough to touch and they slammed their palms together and the pressure that built up there was huge. _

_As they funnelled power into their palms their magic fought for dominance._

_Then suddenly Merlin ducked and let go of the magic and Morgana's beam of energy shot away and smashed into another tree that was instantly obliterated. _

_Morgana's surprise gave Merlin the time he needed and he gripped her upper arms and slammed her against a tree that he had been driving her towards throughout the battle._

_She was helpless in his grip as he held her against the tree with one hand, magic gathering in his other palm which was held before her. The magic was the deepest black, a gaping hole in the world which seemed to tear light away from its surroundings; just as it would tear Morgana's life from her. There was silence but for their breathing, they were both panting from large magic overuse. _

_Merlin raised his eyes to meet Morgana's, he felt that after what they had endured, what they had fought and caused he had to do this, had to watch as the light left her eyes once and for all. But what he saw shook him. _

_Merlin saw pain, unending mind-numbing pain a pain so large it was matched by only by the regret he felt for the way life had turned out, what fate and destiny had turned them into. And that regret was there too, large and immovable, a regret for the lies and the pain, regret for what was and what could have been. And he stopped, the black magic fading into oblivion. He didn't think, didn't even consider the folly of his actions, his body just moved. He released her, stepped away and stood, his back to her, pain and regret in his heart. _

"_Why?" _

_Morgana's voice was raw and pained, she had expected to die._

_Merlin's body was wracked with tremors._

"_I… I… I don't know. I… just can't. You don't deserve to die, not like this, I tried to kill you once and it tore me apart, I can't do it to you, not again."_

_A hot feeling burned through his chest, a disgusted, fiery feeling that made him want to curl up on the ground. _

_And that was when Morgana had to make a choice, she knew she should kill him, attack when his guard was down, rip him away from this realm and so ensure the victory for her and all her allies but she stilled her hand. And she didn't even know why, maybe it was because of the pang that shot through her as she thought of him and the nausea and wretched feeling that consumed her when she thought of killing him. She didn't know why she did it, she just moved._

_Merlin felt a comfortingly cold hand on his cheek, he looked up, straight into the eyes of Morgana. _Why is she doing this? _He wondered. _

_She smiled down at him, a heart-shattering smile which contained all of their sadness and regret._

"_What now?"_

"_I… I don't know. Will you retreat?"_

"_You have beaten me, could have killed me in fact… yes… I think retreat is the only option for now."_

_Morgana cast her thoughts out, zeroing in on Morgause, telling her of her loss, that Merlin had said that he'd let her live if the army was withdrawn. She said nothing of what was going on now, of the emotions she felt. Morgause had no such restraint. Morgana felt alarm radiating from her sister and the order to retreat was quickly given. _

_Morgana turned to Merlin._

"_Our warriors have retreated. Today… you have won." _

_The message was clear. Today but not tomorrow. Merlin had won for this day but come tomorrow the battle would rage on._

_He let out a sigh, one which held the immense weight that had been placed on his shoulders, the weight of an entire nation. He was far too young; they both were, for such worries, for such a hard life. He turned and looked into her eyes, and there was such a word-weary and intense look in their eyes that many would have made many assume they were far older than they were. Then he sighed again, offered a heartbreaking smile and turned his back on her, walking away from the woman who could have been so much more…_

_Or at least that was his intention. He never got that far. A hand on his shoulder stopped him. He turned to find her standing centimetres from him, gazing intently into his eyes. _

"_Don't leave me. Not again."_

_Her words were a whispered plea. And there it was, that unknown, ignored, _something _between them, something they had never spoken of. But now she had and Merlin didn't know what he could do, he knew what he _should _do, but what did he _want _to do? _

"_How can I not? I must return to Arthur, the army, they need me."_

_And she looked at him, her eyes full of desperate longing._

"_And what about me? Don't I need you?"_

_Merlin smiled gently while inside his heart was tearing itself apart. _

"_You have your sister, she understands you, and she can care for you."_

"_She doesn't understand, not really, sometimes… Sometimes I am so tired of fighting Merlin… so tired."_

"_Then give it up, come back with me, join us and nothing will stop us, nothing _could _stop us."_

_She smiled wanly, almost in a self-mocking way._

"_I can't… I can't. I have done too much, and killed far too many."_

"_And I haven't?"_

"_You're different, you're you and I'm me."_

"_Well spotted."_

_She laughed, despite the pain of the moment; he had always been able to make her laugh._

"_Come with me Merlin, not to my sister or Mordred, just come with me."_

_He regarded her with a longing she had displayed mere moments earlier._

"_Where?"_

"_An inn in Mercia, a village in western Gados…I don't care. I just… miss you."_

_And he had gone, he had gone with her, he hadn't seen anything but the look in her eye and felt the desperate longing in his own heart. And this time… this time he couldn't refuse her._

It was then they had become lovers; then they had become ensnared within the trap that was love itself.

It was a bond they couldn't fight, an emotion magic couldn't conquer. And so they met. They met and talked, loved and lied, never revealing the secrets they held, never betraying their sides but always loving.

They met away. Away from it all. Away from the armies, away from the war, hiding away in inn after inn, always loving. They hid within the darkness, creatures of the night, the only time when they could be all that they are and none of what they're not. For it was when they were together they were themselves, and that was just yet one more thing to love about the other.

_Just one more night _thought Morgana as he kissed her neck tenderly, as love and lust suffused their beings, their magic mingling. It was always just one more night, but when it ended they could never part without promises of the evening, for they were creatures of the night and in the night they loved, but morning always came, separating them, making them fight, making them war.

"I love you." The words came from Merlin as he rested his head in the crook between her shoulders and neck.

She smiled, this time he was honest, despite the pain, despite everything that had happened he was honest about this, despite what they had done to each other she felt the same…

"I love you too."

He smiled into her shoulder, his lips moving across her smooth, pale, beautiful skin. They were creatures of the night; morning would come bringing with it the memories, the battles, and the war. But for now… for now they had this one night.

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A/N: So... What did you think, I'd really love to hear your opinions, as I said something better and far longer is on its way soon. I just want to improve so please, click the button and R&R... Thanks for reading.


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